Wizzair - Cancelled 2 successive flights and We flew with a different airline

MKPINN

Hello

I had a flight with Wizzair from Tenerife which was cancelled , I subsequently booked a flight with Wizzair for the next day which was cancelled as well , they booked me for a flight two days hence , So we flew with a different airline the next day and i have a few questions:

1. Is Wizzair liable to pay for the cost of the flight home ?

2. Are they liable to pay for the taxi to the airport from the  hotel ?

3. Am i able to cancel the return flight they have booked me and claim refund ?

4. Alternately , am i able to claim the delay compensation - which if paid would cover the cost of the return flight and hotel - so i don't mind !!

Many Thanks for all your advise and help - Wizzair dont make anything easy .

eskbanker

1. Wizzair are required to offer "re-routing, under comparable transport conditions, to their [your] final destination at the earliest opportunity", and an interpretation of that is that they should book you on another airline's flight if their next available one isn't for another two days.  However, it's not so clear cut if you took matters into your own hands and booked it yourself, but you should still be able to make a case.

2. Unclear if they'd have any liability for a taxi from hotel to airport, unless this was an extra trip caused by a cancellation after you'd already made a wasted journey to the airport.  If so, you should be entitled to transport costs in both directions.

3. As covered above, they're liable to get you home at no extra cost over what you'd already paid, but that doesn't entitle you to reimbursement of both flights, i.e. theirs and the other airline's.

4. Compensation for each cancellation would be due unless it was due to extraordinary circumstances outside the airline's control.

MKPINN

Thanks for your very clear answers.

1. I did take matters in my own hand and Book the other airline myself , does that mean i am out of pocket for this ?

2. I did report to the airport for the original flight at their instructions and so the second trip to the airport was to take the newly  self-arranged flight.

3.I suppose i would prefer to receive reimbursement of the new tickets, and reimbursement of todays flight is not important as i just don't want to be out of pocket .

4. The first cancellation was not explained Nor the second but i suspect the second cancellation may be due to  the runway at Luton closing on Monday. Does the fact that 2 separate flights were cancelled mean that in theory i am entitled to claim for 2 lots ?

Thanks once again for your help.

eskbanker

MKPINN said:

1. I did take matters in my own hand and Book the other airline myself , does that mean i am out of pocket for this ?

Not necessarily, but you may have to fight harder for reimbursement, when Wizzair had already offered a solution, albeit one you (understandably) felt was inferior.

MKPINN said:

4. The first cancellation was not explained Nor the second but i suspect the second cancellation may be due to  the runway at Luton closing on Monday. Does the fact that 2 separate flights were cancelled mean that in theory i am entitled to claim for 2 lots ?

Yes, in theory, two cancellations = two compensation payments, but compensation wouldn't apply for the runway closure if that was the root cause, as that clearly wouldn't be the airline's fault.

JPears

1. Probably not. After 2 cancelled flights, it is more than reasonable to make your own arrangements.  The obligation for Whizzair to pay out for your alternative flights exists whatever the reason for canellation.

2. You can but try.

3. Either refund from WHizzair or reimbursement of your costs for alternative flights. If the latter was cheper (unlikley) then go for refund

4. No. Its the compensation for the journey, not the number of flights

eskbanker

MKPINN said:

Does the fact that 2 separate flights were cancelled mean that in theory i am entitled to claim for 2 lots ?

JPears said:

No. Its the compensation for the journey, not the number of flights

As above, I disagree - compensation is per flight cancellation, and hence the wording of the regulation:

In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall [...] have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier...

MKPINN

Thanks so much for your answers  , I am very grateful.

Now girdling my loins for the slugfest this is likely to be with Wizzair !

JPears

eskbanker said:

MKPINN said:

Does the fact that 2 separate flights were cancelled mean that in theory i am entitled to claim for 2 lots ?

JPears said:

No. Its the compensation for the journey, not the number of flights

As above, I disagree - compensation is per flight cancellation, and hence the wording of the regulation:

In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall [...] have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier...

Whilst that is the wording of the regulation, if this went to ADR or court, I doubt you would receive compensation twice for the same journey.

I do not know of any cases in the past 11 years on this forum, where this has occurred.

eskbanker

JPears said:

eskbanker said:

MKPINN said:

Does the fact that 2 separate flights were cancelled mean that in theory i am entitled to claim for 2 lots ?

JPears said:

No. Its the compensation for the journey, not the number of flights

As above, I disagree - compensation is per flight cancellation, and hence the wording of the regulation:

In case of cancellation of a flight, the passengers concerned shall [...] have the right to compensation by the operating air carrier...

Whilst that is the wording of the regulation, if this went to ADR or court, I doubt you would receive compensation twice for the same journey.

I do not know of any cases in the past 11 years on this forum, where this has occurred.

I'm still not seeing where you're sourcing your 'journey' definition from, but why should the response to the second cancellation be impacted in any way by the fact that there was another on a different day, and be regarded as any less significant?

Having said that, I'm not saying that I'm aware of any reports of multiple compensation payments either, but would suggest that there have been significantly more airline-liable cancellations in recent times so imagine that it'll be more likely to be tested in the current situation....

JPears

I think we had a discussion on this forum many years ago about the scenario that if your flight was cancelled and you purchased the second replacement flight, theoretically you could claim compo twice.

The regulation states that it must be a flight you have paid for.

It is an interesting arguement to discuss. It would be a significant step if anyone did receive compensation for a twice cancelled flight. Dependent on the reason for cancellations of course...

CKhalvashi

eskbanker said:

MKPINN said:

1. I did take matters in my own hand and Book the other airline myself , does that mean i am out of pocket for this ?

Not necessarily, but you may have to fight harder for reimbursement, when Wizzair had already offered a solution, albeit one you (understandably) felt was inferior.

MKPINN said:

4. The first cancellation was not explained Nor the second but i suspect the second cancellation may be due to  the runway at Luton closing on Monday. Does the fact that 2 separate flights were cancelled mean that in theory i am entitled to claim for 2 lots ?

Yes, in theory, two cancellations = two compensation payments, but compensation wouldn't apply for the runway closure if that was the root cause, as that clearly wouldn't be the airline's fault.

The second cancellation would likely be due to runway closure at Luton (the TFS is an afternoon service and was scheduled to go after the runway closed so you will have little to no hope of arguing otherwise). There were issues going into yesterday due to aircraft not being where they should be, again due to the runway closure, which would also not be compensationable due to the issue being outside of Wizz's control.

I have advised a friend to claim twice for 2 separate cancellations on the same booking, however I don't know what the success chance will be on this. The legislation is clear, however it's likely to not be a clear situation in reality and I'm not sure the courts will agree with my assessment. In any event this is irrelevant as at least 1 flight will not be compensationable.

You do have the right to reasonable care, which will reasonably include the cost of 2 telephone calls, any accommodation within reason and any food within reason, even if you're out for the flight due to not following correct procedures with the airline.